Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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Chapter Ten: Preparations
"Zuko!" Ty Lee ran to him, he was meditating.
"Yes, Ty Lee?" Zuko asked impatiently.
"Look what I found!" Ty Lee handed him a piece of paper.
"It's nice." He said as he handed it back to her.
"You didn't even look!" She complained he sighed and stood up. He snatched the paper from her hand.
"It's a festival…what about it?" Zuko looked up to her.
"Will you go with me?" She had that hopeful look in her eyes.
"Ty Lee, it's in the Fire Nation." He hoped that would make her realize they couldn't go.
"So? We'll wear disguises. Katara has an extra outfit I can wear and you can wear that hood-cape thingy!" She jumped up a little. "Please?"
"Please what?" Sokka asked; he was giving Suki a 'tour', even though he was getting lost in the process.
"There's a festival tomorrow in the Fire Nation!" Ty Lee exclaimed.
"Can we go, Sokka?" Suki asked.
"It's in the Fire Nation!" Sokka yelled.
"Somebody sees it my way." Zuko sighed.
"What's going on? Why is everyone in here?" Aang asked as he entered Zuko's room.
"There's a festival tomorrow!" Ty Lee yelled.
"I wanna go! I wanna go!" Aang yelled as he raised his hand and jumped up and down, Sokka and Zuko shook their heads.
"What's going on? Is this some secret meeting?" Shin Sang entered the room with Iroh.
"There's a festival tomorrow!" Aang shouted.
"Oh my gosh! I wanna go! What will I wear? Do any of your guys have like huge clothes? And then there's my hair…" Shin Sang put his index finger to his chin, everyone just stared at him.
"Can we please go, Zuko?" Ty Lee begged; he rolled his eyes.
"Fine, but everyone else has to go, too." He said.
"What?" Sokka yelled.
"You're going." Suki said.
"Fine…."
"You're whipped." Zuko said through a bunch of fake coughs.
"Guys, what are you doing?" Katara asked as she, Hakoda, and Toph entered the room.
"There's a festival tomorrow, we're all going, and it's in the Fire Nation." Zuko said quickly.
"Sounds fun!" Katara yelled.
"I'm in." Toph said.
"I'll go." Hakoda said.
"Alright, everyone's going. You can all leave now." Zuko began to shoo them out of his room. "Let's go. Party's over." Zuko sighed as they all left. At least he thought all of them. He turned around and saw Ty Lee sitting cross-legged on his bed. He stared at her, waiting for her to say something. "Well…?" He finally spoke.
"Well?" She answered back.
"Why are you still here?" Zuko asked.
"Because I want to hang out with you." She grinned.
"I'm too busy to 'hang out'." Zuko started rummaging through his back.
"Doing what?" She asked.
"Stuff." He said as he pulled out his clothes.
"We need to talk." She said, causing him to face her. Usually, he told her they needed to talk. He took a seat on the bad at her side.
"What about?" He looked to her.
"Where do we stand? You kissed me at the palace, but now you act like I mean nothing." She frowned and looked to her crossed legs.
"You know you mean a lot to me." He sighed. He hated when girls got like this. That was Mai's best feature, she wasn't emotional. Well, it was a good and bad feature at times, it depended he guessed.
"No, I don't. What's going to happen when Mai comes back? Are you going to go back with her? Were you just toying with my emotions? Why won't you even get close to me? Did the kiss ruin our friendship? Are we even friends anymore? Are we more than friends?" She had never been so anxious.
"When Mai comes back, it will be awkward because I ended it with her during the eclipse. I don't want to get too close; because…every time I get close to someone I hurt them. We are friends, and I don't know if we're anything more." Zuko sighed. It was a mouthful.
"Then why don't you talk to me anymore? You avoid me all-" She was cut off when she felt a pressure hit her lips. Zuko lips were pressed against hers, and then he pulled away.
"I'm sorry. Right now, I just need time to get things in order before I can get committed to anything." He looked into her eyes, she was still in shock, but managed to nod 'yes'. He stood up and left his room; she moved the tips of her fingers to her lips and held them there.
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"So, Katara, do you still have that outfit I can borrow?" Ty Lee asked. They were eating lunch.
"Yeah, I'll have it ready in the morning!" Katara smiled.
"So, Nephew, you are taking Miss Ty Lee?" Iroh wore hi ear-to-ear grin.
"Yes." Zuko mumbled as he took a bite of his food.
"And I'm whipped." Sokka said.
"Yes, you are!" Suki pointed a finger at him and smiled.
"Fine…I am." He said under his breath.
"Ty Lee doesn't have me whipped. She isn't my girlfriend!" Zuko said defensively. He knew Ty Lee was frowning. He kind of made it sound like it would be a bad thing.
"Someone's touchy." Toph said.
"I am not touchy!" Zuko yelled.
"Yes you are." Ty Lee said; her smile was back.
"No, I'm not!" He yelled at her.
"Yes-suh!" She yelled back; she was teasing again.
"I am not!" Zuko yelled.
"You guys fight like an old married couple." Shin Sang said.
"No we don't!" Zuko yelled; Ty Lee giggled.
"You're cute when you're mad." She said when she finished. He let out a sigh of defeat; there was no winning with these people.
"Zuko, you should do something with your hair." Ty Lee said as she pushed his bangs back.
"No, I shouldn't." He said as he pulled away.
"Guys, are you OK?" Aang asked.
"Never been better." Zuko said sarcastically.
"So, I'm going with Suki, Zuko's going with Ty Lee, who are the rest of you going with?" Sokka asked.
"I am far too old for a date." Iroh said.
"I'll meet someone there. It's been a while since I've been out in public." Shin Sang said as he smiled at the thought.
"No, no. Not you old people! I mean Katara, Aang, Toph, Haru, The Duke, and Teo." Sokka replied.
"I haven't decided who I want to go with." Aang blushed.
"I'll go with you Twinkle Toes." Toph said as she ate.
"OK, now who's taking my sister?" Sokka asked.
"Nobody, Sokka, I'm not bringing a date." Katara rolled her eyes.
"Good." Sokka and Hakoda said at the same time.
"I can't wait! I haven't danced in so long!" Ty Lee exclaimed.
"We need to dance?" Sokka asked.
"You can't dance?" Suki asked him.
"I can, I just…"
"Don't know how to." Zuko finished for him.
"Oh, and you do, Princey?" Sokka yelled.
"I'm a prince you dumb ass, of course I do." Zuko responded.
"No fighting!" Aang yelled. Zuko rolled his eyes.
"I'm going to my room." Zuko stood up.
"I'll come!" Ty Lee said as she jumped up. He sighed.
XXX
"Zuko, you seem so distant." Ty Lee said as she took her seat at the foot of his bed.
"I am." He said bluntly as he sat next to her.
"Why?"
"I left everything. I'm still so confused. I left my nation. I left Mai. I didn't even tell her to her face. I just don't know anymore. This doesn't feel right." He said. She cupped his face in her hand.
"You know it is. You left because you needed to. You're saving everyone." She said.
"Ty Lee…I found out something the day of the eclipse." Zuko looked her in the eyes.
"What?" She asked. She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"My mother…" He whispered. She looked up to him.
"Your mother what?"
"She's…she's alive." He felt a tear roll down his right cheek.
"Zuko…" She whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She squeezed tight. He wrapped his around her waist and just held her. Some things did seem right.
XXX
That night, the group was going to sleep. Everyone was asleep, except Ty Lee. She walked into the hallway to see if she could find someone awake she could talk to. She saw a small light come out of one of the rooms as she walked. It was Zuko's room. She smiled and slowly walked in.
"Zuko?" She whispered. She saw a small candle lit up on the nightstand and Zuko facing the wall across from his bed. His eyes were wide open, he wasn't even meditating. When she said his name, he turned to face her.
"Hi." Was all he said. He didn't even seem angry.
"Can I talk to you?" She asked as she slowly entered his room.
"About what?" He said as he pushed over and gave her room to sit on his bed.
"I can't sleep." She said as she took the seat.
"Did you have a bad dream?" He asked, she nodded 'no'. He seemed so peaceful. It was like he was a different person.
"Can I stay in here tonight?" She asked.
"Yeah." He said without hesitation. Ty Lee felt like he was waiting for her to ask. He lay down and she lay on the side of him. She wasn't facing him, but he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Zuko…what did happen?" Ty Lee asked. She didn't even turn to face him. She felt him tighten his grip around her waist. "Azula is so…evil. I don't know what she'll do to Mai. And it's all my fault. I left her."
"No." He whispered. "I left her. I left both of you behind with Azula, so it's my fault. Don't blame yourself." He spoke into her hair.
"You seem to be positive." She giggled.
"I'm always positive." He said seriously.
"Yeah, and I'm an only child." She laughed. She nuzzled into his warm embrace.
"Goodnight." He whispered in her ear and kissed her cheek.
"'Night." She smiled and closed her eyes.
XXX
The next morning Zuko woke up at sunrise. Ty Lee's body was pressed against his and his arms were at her waist. He smiled. She was so peaceful when she was asleep, and this time, there was no uncle to smile and make comments. And then he remembered the festival was today. He mentally cursed himself. He was going back to the Fire Nation. It wasn't until noon the group agreed to go.
"Morning." Ty Lee mumbled, breaking his thoughts.
"Morning." He said quietly. She rolled over and faced him.
"Are you still happy?" She teasingly asked.
"I'm never happy. I said I was always positive." Zuko said as he looked into her hazel eyes. Her braid was a little messed up, but she still looked beautiful. Would he ever admit that out loud? No.
"Same thing." She laughed.
"No, they aren't." He smiled at her.
"You are happy! You smiled!" She pointed her finger at his lips.
"I just want to smile, that doesn't make me happy." He still couldn't make it go away.
"Maybe I just make you smile!" She exclaimed and noticed his faint blush.
"It isn't you." He said as he started to scan the room.
"Zuko, are you blushing? How cute!" She said as she pinched his cheek.
"You think everything I do is cute." He sighed.
"So, you are blushing?" She asked.
"No!" He said, a little too quickly.
"I know you. Let's go. We need to get ready." Ty Lee smiled as she sat up.
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Sorry about the shortness and that I haven't updated in so long! I'm trying to catch up on both of my stories, but the next update shouldn't take so long! Please review!